


Ain't No Me Without You

by writinraven



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-20
Updated: 2014-01-20
Packaged: 2018-01-09 11:25:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1145407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writinraven/pseuds/writinraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A study in Sam and Dean, two characters from Supernatural, who we can only hope are just characters in a TV show and not the only ones saving us.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ain't No Me Without You

The world is a cruel place, if you watch the TV shows, constant death, violence, rape, and murder. It makes you think that humanity is nothing but pain, agony, and suffering. The leaders of the humans must have control over their followers to keep everyone in line. However, they aren’t the worse of what is out there, not by a long shot. You see, humans may have long forgotten that angels, demons, and monsters exist, but they never forgot about us. There is a certain hierarchy to these things, and humans aren’t even near the top of the list. Want to know the funny part about it? Most of us have no idea about the war waged around us.

            “Damn it Cass! You just make me so frustrated! I just want a straight answer!” Dean Winchester spun around, to find himself face to face with the object of his annoyance. “Personal space, man, we’ve talked about this…” Castiel, or Cass as Dean often called him, looked intently at his long time friend, and charge. 

            “My apologies, Dean,” Castiel replied, taking a step back from Dean. “I am here now though. If you merely wish to speak ill of my search for our Father, God, I will return the amulet, which Sam gave you, and be on my way.” Long ago he had adapted to Dean’s hostility over his search for his Father, God as it were, since he knew that Dean did not have his belief. He would not deny that it hurt to hear such thing, yet that is why he had been avoiding Dean. They needed to speak on that but Castiel had no desire to begin that now.

            Thankfully Castiel was saved from the discussion by Sam Winchester, Dean’s younger brother coming into the room interrupting whatever it was that he was about to say. Therefore he ignored the situation at hand, and left with a flutter of his wings. Dean groaned, and sat back on the cheap motel bed. Once again he had no answers, and that was not good when the world was coming to an end. Too much uncertainty and no one was helping him fix that.

            Sam looked over where Castiel had been standing, then back at the annoyed form of his brother, and decided to take a page from his father’s book, and not touch that obviously sensitive subject. “Dean, I know what you’re thinking, and he doesn’t do it on purpose. You know you can’t force him to stay here. It wouldn’t be right to cage an Angel of the Lord like that…” Truly though, Dean was obviously mad as hell, and he knew from growing up on the road with Dean that pushing this issue anymore would only be asking for trouble.

            Dean looked over, and scolded at his brother. He was tired of Sam’s damn logical nature. The kid always weighed information so carefully; you’d think he’d still be at Stanford studying to be a lawyer. But he understood, of course he did. The kid had the whole white knight saving the maiden idea, it was basically his life. It drove his entire life; it was what kept Sam motivated to keep hunting despite his stagnating interest in the lifestyle. He just didn’t have the same drive he used to. It worried Dean honestly. “Did you bring pie?” He asked, deciding to defend himself from the upcoming chick flick moment.

            Sam rolled his eyes, and placed down a bag on the table. He had not forgotten his promise to grab Dean some pie when he was out and about. Then again, Dean always assumed he’d bring him pie. He always did, always, but it was just assumed nowadays that he would bring the pie, preferably apple.  Dean loved apple pie. Yet when Dean opened the bag, a piece of cake was there.

            “Dude what the hell is this? It isn’t pie!” Dean snapped, deliberately picking a fight. Perhaps it was a bit hypercritical to attack his brother for this of all things, but pie was not cake. It wasn’t even close. He couldn’t understand Sammy some days. The kid just didn’t understand the importance of pie.

            Sam just shook his head and sat down at the table. He did need to do research over this issue at hand, and the library of the town was closed. So now he’d have to endure Dean’s random rants, or whatever it is that he did all day long in the motel room while he did the real work involved in the cases. Not that he’d ever complain to Dean about it. Never mind, he was getting off topic. He leaned back in his chair, and tried to separate himself from the equation and look at the big picture of what was happening around them.

            The world was coming to an end, literally. The Judea-Christian apocalypse was upon humanity at large, and all because the two of them couldn’t get a straight answer out of anyone. Now though, the inconsistency was over, but it was too late for that. They were the vessels on Earth for the bringers of ‘paradise on earth.’ Michael and Lucifer: the pair of brothers that were coming after another pair of brothers. The Archangels on high were supposed to posses them, and end the world. What would have seemed like some sick twist of Fate, who they had even met recently, was all too true. Sam’s worry since childhood, that one day he’d be responsible for something really evil. Truly bad and horrible, was now true. Talk about self-fulfilling prophecy; expect that most people’s don’t involve the destruction of the entire human race.

            “So Sammy, we’re in a Catch-22 now, aren’t we?” Dean spoke up, humorlessly. “If we say yes to these two clowns with wings, and daddy issues, the world ends. If we don’t, the world still ends, only it will take longer.” He took a long drink from a beer he had grabbed from the fridge. The cake lay on the bedside table still uneaten. “I thought we had fulfilled our debt to humanity you know? We hunt the evil things that creep after them in night. We became hunters, the only group left in humanity that will claim us.”

            “We’ll be make this work Dean. I mean, it’s not like it’s actually going to be the end of the world. The Angels are the good guys,” Sam was sure that Dean didn’t believe a word he said, hell neither did he. But that was their life now. Lies on lies, the only place they could relax without care or worry was here. They could rest with each other in their cheap hotel rooms, without fear of judgment or trouble. They needed this nowadays. Everyone did, but some days they needed it more than others.

            Meanwhile, Castiel was not able to relax himself. His duties were not done, not to the Winchester brothers, not to the Heavenly Host. He had to endure the constant whispers of his brothers and sisters, all whispering the integration propaganda. It made him grit his teeth to hear the end of humanity praised as an event of necessity. He knew what he needed to do, and he hated to do so. He would be asking a third party that he would never wish to wish with. The King of Hell, Crowley and he had a false relationship. They pretended to stand each other since they needed each other, but truly they would rather not ever endure each other’s presence unless forced.

            No amount of talking to himself would make this okay, he realized. Time was of essences, and if he did not hurry now, there was no guarantee the information he gained would still be accurate. Everything with Crowley was about punctuality, so Angels like Castiel infuriated him with their much more relaxed attitude towards time. So with the familiar flutter of wings he took off from his place of rest to go speak with the demon.

            Perhaps at this point in our story, you are confused. You see the people mentioned: Sam, Dean, Castiel, and the others. They are the main players behind the scenes of the end of the world. They always have been in a story older than us. Revelations is upon us, but these three form Team Free Will, defying the path set forth them from before birth. But first, you should probably know more about Sam and Dean before I continue on with this story. Sam especially, the wonder boy of the dream team, who always tries to spin the story just right so that everyone will listen.

            Many years ago now, Sam and Dean were merely children. Sam was not even able to walk when his mother was murdered by a demon. His father took him and Dean away on a lifelong spree to go find the demon that had destroyed their simple life. Their father, John Winchester, made a very young Dean promise to him to always take care of Sam. Dean still holds that promise to heart, his entire being revolving around keeping his younger brother safe from the evil things that they hunt, even from Lucifer, the Fallen Archangel, who sought him as a vessel. However, since John was constantly on the hunt, raising Sam fell to Dean. Everything a child needs to survive, and grow, Dean provided Sam. All the love, support, food, and protection, Dean did the best he could. He was, after all, a child himself.

            Somewhere along the line, the two integrated, becoming the Winchester boys, instead of merely Sam, and Dean. That is not to say that they were not typical boys in many ways who fought over every little thing. Once Sam became a teenager especially things escalated in the constantly roaming Winchester household. It would even come to the point that Sam would pick a fight, only to blame Dean for it in the end. Such were things until Sam left for college, and then the cycle started again when Sam’s girlfriend at the time was murdered by the same demon that killed his mother.

            We rejoin the Winchester brothers back in their cheap motel room, only now, they are returning from a hunt. Another angry spirit that required a simple salting of the bones, and burning, though judging from the bruised and battered state of them, it did not go down easily. They are still alive, and well though, laughing, and energized from the successful hunt that didn’t require assistance from Castiel, or anyone else really. Just the two of them, just like it used to be, when it was the family business of saving people, and hunting things. Back before the end of world had begun to loom constantly over their heads. That was before Dean and Castiel were checking each other out, and examining one another on a shallow simple level. It seemed like a lifetime ago instead of the few short years that it had been.

            Hours passed, and the brothers found themselves drinking their beers on the trunk of the Impala that Dean had inherited from their father on his sixteenth birthday. Dean was relaxed enough to know that soon, Sam would be opening up, and being his usual expressive, and not mind for a change. Sure enough, soon Sam began to fidget as he thought over their lives, and how everything had changed for them.

            “You know what, Dean?” Sam asked. Dean groaned mentally despite his preparedness for the conversation. He just hoped it was a ‘we need to talk,’ or a ‘how are we doing’ conversation he was honestly too drunk for that one.

            “No, Sam, I don't. What is it?” He asked rhetorically, since he felt no need to really comment yet. Sam would have kept talking anyways, but this way he could pretend that he contributed to the talk later on.

            “I’m okay, and you’re okay. You know that right? I mean like, it took some time for me to think about it. But, we’re okay. You may be my pain in the ass older brother, but you’re also my best friend. You’re always late, yet always on time, and it took some time for me to integrate that in my head. But you can be Dad’s solider, and still be my brother. It can happen, and I’ve finally made it work in my head,” Sam rambled out, looking up at the stars wondering if any of the angels that followed them around were up there looking down on them.

            Dean mentally sighed, and took a deep drink of his beer, which had long been warm. Sam always did have a mouthful. Always, the kid just couldn’t be concise with his words when it came to spilling his guts.

            “I don’t expect you to say anything back, man,” Sam teased, practically feeling the exasperation rolling off his unemotional older brother in waves. “I know how you are. You’ve always been someone with your strong opinions, regardless of whose listening. Heaven knows it’s gotten us in a few sticky situations before, but that’s just who you are.”

            Well damn. Sammy knew him too well, again. Typical for the kid he had raised since diapers, but sometimes he felt like the younger brother when he pulled crap like that. “Look, I’ve never said this to anyone, and I don’t plan on ever doing it again,” He replied. After a long silent pause, where Sam seemed to understand that he had to be silent for now so that Dean could process his thoughts. “You’re my brother, yeah, but I wouldn’t be okay without you here. We’re a team, like two halves of the same whole, and I couldn’t do this without you at my side, Sam.” He knew then that he was most assuredly drunk, he sounded like one of those guys in the chick flicks spilling out their heart and soul.

            Sam wanted to make a big speech, but he knew that it wouldn’t be appreciated right now. “Same here jerk,” he teased with a grin that lit up his face, erasing the years of pain and sorrow for a brief moment in time.

            “Yeah, yeah, Bitch,” Dean said the words without any bite or malice. So, even an outsider could tell that despite the harshness of the words that the odd terms of affection were meant out of a sense of love that only two co-dependent brothers could have after a lifetime of hell.

            Suddenly, things felt okay for the pair. Nothing had truly changed at any point since before the hunt, except for one angry spirit in the ground, and a few new bruises on their bodies, but a weight that was there was now gone. It was okay to breathe again, and they would be ready in the morning, despite the hangovers awaiting them, for the next big challenge.

            So you see, even the ones we are depending on unknowingly are human. A pair of brothers who have been through some truly extreme circumstances along the line, given their history that I have not even begin to cover, because it would take away from our lesson today. What you know now is only skimming the surface of the horrors that they have endured in their life, and they are prepared for more. Archangels are in hot pursuit of their chosen vessels in a desperate race against time and each other. The end is swiftly approaching, unless a miracle happens, and no one in these times believes in those anymore. But for now, the hierarchy is intact, and the world can breathe with the Winchesters on the trunk of the old Chevy Impala.

            Sometimes you have to sit back, and realize how much bigger the world is than your next paper, or the hot girl who turned you down yesterday at the cafe. You are not facing the end of humanity if you make one false step, you are not the ones set to save the world from everything beyond yourself. You’re the average human, sitting in your home of choice with a family that you have never had to consider going to Hell for. There are no Angels who seek your guidance in the end times; there are no beings with powers unfathomable wanting to possess your body in order to destroy the world at large. Truly things are much simpler for us humans. Things like the Winchesters can’t be true; they’re from that television show Supernatural, right?

            Let’s hope so. 

**Author's Note:**

> A study in communication I did for college, and I decided to share with the fandom.


End file.
